Chief Rugby Reporter

Suit yourself ... Australian athletes including Sally Pearson, centre, and Natalie Cook, on her right, try the new competition gear. Photo: Steve Christo

THE four-time Olympian Natalie Cook wants to reassure fans of beach volleyball, who tune in to watch her sport once every four years, that they will still see plenty of taut, bronzed flesh in London.

Despite an announcement from volleyball's governing body on Tuesday night that the traditional bikini was no longer mandatory for female athletes, Cook said she would not be covering up.

''I'll be in the bikini for sure,'' she said yesterday at the launch of the Australian Olympic team's competition and casual wear outfits at Homebush.

''The announcement was actually a shock, the beach volleyball world has been in bikinis for 20 years, we love it as athletes, it's very functional, it's practical and it looks good.''

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The International Volleyball Federation said it had relaxed its competition rules in an effort to embrace new markets in the sport, including countries with different religious and cultural norms.

''Some of the Muslim communities, Iran, India, who have probably shied away from playing beach volleyball because of the uniform … you can now wear something that covers your shoulders and stomach like a singlet or T-shirt ,'' Cook said. ''But I think [the bikini] looks much better for our sport and it's much more functional, diving around the sand, to be in a bikini. So you will see me in a bikini in London.''

That bikini will be in the classic green and gold combination, much like the rest of the adidas-designed kit, which features green bottoms and yellow-gold tops, with southern crosses and kangaroos used as detail on all items.

The hurdling world champion Sally Pearson said she loved the new outfits, which adidas claimed were lighter and faster than any competition wear before.